Our Connection Campaign -- Phase Two
by Tom Goodman
October 24, 2007

Phase One of our Connection Campaign was a wonderful success, and now we've begun Phase Two.

The first part of the Campaign was a huge effort to identify households within 3 miles of our church building who would be interested in visiting our church.  With the help of Harvest Unlimited, we set up a "call center" where we called into our community, asking how we might be able to pray for their families and inviting them to church on our special "Connection Sunday."

As a result, we saw about 100 visitors on October 14 from about 50 households.  In addition, we had about 88 households tell us before Sunday that they could not make it on our special day but that they still expected to come for a visit.  We expect to see at least 50 of those households between now and Christmas.  So, as a result of our Connection Campaign, we expect over 100 new households will pass through our doors.

As I said, in order to identify these households, we did a lot of calling.  We dialed 12,000 phone numbers, and actually talked with about 5,000 neighbors.  About half of those already had a church home, but we found over 400 unchurched neighbors who expressed interest in coming to our church.

As we talked with our neighbors, we asked if they had any prayer requests.  Over 1200 requests were given to our prayer team on the call nights.  In addition, over 300 of those requests were passed along to church members who continued to pray for those needs and send encouraging notes.

Finally, last Saturday a team of "cookie callers" delivered gift bags to all the households that had indicated their plans to come to our Connection Sunday.

The first half of the Campaign was a massive project, and Hillcrest did a fantastic job!  The aim of that campaign phase was to identify neighbors who are interested in checking out our church.

Now the second campaign phase begins.  We want to welcome all these neighbors into the life and ministry of our congregation.  Among other things, this includes every member engaging visitors in conversation on Sundays and inviting them to our small-group Bible study (either Common Ground or Sunday School).

All our work in the first phase of the campaign was simply to get us to this point:  We want our new guests to hear your warm and welcoming invitation into the life and ministry of Hillcrest!

--Tom

"Caring Friends" Ministry.  Our homebound ministry is now led by Mae Simmons, who will do a great job filling the responsibilities that Mayme Johnson did so well before her retirement.  Mae reports that the Hillcrest Kids ministry is going to make something and deliver to our Homebound for Thanksgiving.  Also, the "second-half" singles and the "Mary and Martha" class are doing something for Christmas.  Stop by the Caring Friends bulletin board in the office hallway.  Marylou Draughon handles that.

Upcoming Events:  Come out to our Craft Show this Friday and Saturday and our Kids Pumpkin Party October 31.  And sign up for our Hillcrest Golf Tournament, scheduled for November 17.  There's a lot more at our website: www.HillcrestAustin.org.

Drop By the Blog, Leave a Comment.  At my weblog, "Get Anchored," every Sunday I post a new "Song of the Week."  (This week: "Songbird" by Rosie Thomas)  And every Tuesday I post some entertaining and informative "Links to Your World."  Also, this week I've posted about my son's preparation to vote in his first presidential election, and how to address our culture's concern with tolerance (second of a five-part series).

Do you know friends who would appreciate Winning Ways?  Just forward this e-mail to them!

Have you subscribed to Winning Ways?  You can subscribe by clicking here and following the instructions.  Your e-mail address will not be sold or given away to anyone, and you can automatically change your subscription or drop it by following the easy steps provided with each e-mail.

FRESH NEWS AT HILLCREST UPDATED WEEKLY:  www.HillcrestAustin.org

LISTEN TO RECENT SERMONS:  Click here

MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS TO OUR EMAIL NEWSLETTERS:  Click here.  If you do not have access to the web, please send a note to newsmaster@hbcaustin.org to tell us of any changes you would like to make.